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Thursday, September 04, 2008

storage cubes

Thanks for all the response on my checkbook covers. When I posted the instructions I felt pretty unsure of myself, so it was wonderful to read all your positive responses. One ironic thing...the day I post the tutorial I can't find my own check blanks. Ha! Typical.

Lynn asked about duplicate checks...I have duplicate checks myself and I ripped the vinyl flap off my plastic checkbook cover (from the bank) and I just tuck it in there, unattached. That's been working great for me.

Denitza, a fellow Wisconsin girl, is my winner! She wins the checkbook cover of her choice from the previous post. Thanks, all, for playing along.

For today's tutorial...cut 5 squares each from 2 different fabrics, for a total of 10 6" squareshere I used denim and decorator fabricyou can use lightweight cotton but you would need to interface for best resultscut a 2" square of card stockcut a 2.5" square of clear vinyl (I buy remnants at either JoAnn's or Walmart)using your walking foot, sew around the vinyl on 3 sides to form a little pocket for your labelI like the leave the card stock in there as a guide to help me place my seam.(do not sew through the paper)

layout 4 squares side by side...

and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance

take the left side of the strip and the right side of the strip and sew those two together to make a square

take the 5th square and pin it to the bottom (make sure to check the orientation of your label pocket...you don't want it upside down.) sew in the bottom starting and stopping 1/4" from each corner. it's best to start and stop for all 4 seams, rather than to try to make one continuous seam.

set this one aside for now.

repeat these steps (minus the vinyl label) for the lining, BUT

sew three seams, then on the fourth seam leave an opening for turning and for inserting the cardboard

sew between each of the set of pins, leaving about a 4" gap

turn the denim box right side outnow you should have 2 boxes

place one box inside the other, making sure that right sides are together

pin around the top, sew the around the entire perimeter of the top using a 1/4" seam allowance.turn right side out, and either finger press or use an iron to press the top seam

using a scant seam allowance, top stitch around the perimeter of the top of the box

insert each of the 5 pieces of cardboard through the gap used for turning

one for each side and one for the bottom

this takes some fiddling, I am warning you. but it's worth it.

it helps to kind of nestle each piece in between the seamsonce you get the cardboard pieces situated, sew up the hole used for turning. (do this carefully, so your cardboard pieces don't collapse inside.)

label as desired

and you are done!

I also made these that nest inside each other

that have binding attached at the top

and I have made several different versions.......enough to fit my 72" long desk.

177 comments:

Hi Amanda Jean, hope you had lots of fun on last of the summer days :o) And your tutorials are just awesome like always. The boxes are so perfect to store the scraps, which can get quite overwhelming. Love the idea of tag sleeve.

WOW!! I love these boxes! I am a Stitcher's Angel & wanted to do something like this. . . now I have the perfect pattern. Your instructions are so clear that I'm sure these will be like potato chips (can't make just one).

I would like to feature these on The Inspirational Craft blog because I think everone needs to see them. If that would be ok with you (I'd use your pics, write about them and link back to you of course, giving you all credit) can you email me at serinone@yahoo.com

Amanda Jean,These little boxes are just too stinking cute. You have done it again with yet another very well done tutorial. I love the ones with the binding. Hmmm, will you show a variation for those, or just write out instructions? I am loving your homemade Christmas tutorials!

they have a little give in them, but they aren't as wobbly as you might think. the cardboard is nearly the size of each section of the cube, so they are pretty stable. I guess it depends what you are going to use them for, too.

These are VERY cute! I guess I don't 'get' where you put the cardboard in...thru the opening you use for turning?? So you have to fuss with it some then to get each piece in place?? I really like your set of 4 pink 'canisters'

These are so sweet..thank-you!I'm thinking these would be cute to make to hold elastics, bobbypins..etc for my daughter and I..Also one to have next to my sewing maching for threads and remnents...I was thinking it would be cute to make one the size of a square Kleenex box to set in...oh, wow..so many options!!

Maybe I'm just confusing myself...so are we just leaving an opening for turning at the TOP? (similar to when sewing handbags) Or only an opening on the BOTTOM? (that is used for turning AND stuffing cardboard in)?? Or both?Sorry! Great project!

What a great box! And I can find hundred uses around the house! Thanks for the great tutorial! And Thank you so very much for the check book cover! I still can't believe I won! Thanks again and have a great day!

I don't know if this was on your original list (the one that I initialled when I liked something) but it would have a mark. I love the one that you made me-I keep my CDs in it and the colors are fabulous. :)

Look forward to giving these a try, just a soon as my 90-minute quilts stop taking a week and a half (you know, 10 minutes a day for 9 days). I'm impressed, and my DD (age 6) will be too if I can get some of these together for her princess room. Thanks!

Ooh, love these. These would make amazing gifts!! Definitely something new and different that I haven't done before. Thanks! (And I even have the striped fabric you used in the tutorial...must be Mill End? I've lost track!)

I love these!! What a great idea. I'm going to try some this weekend. Thank you for all your efforts in putting these tutorials together. I was thinking that making these little baskets in Christmas fabric and giving little gifts in them would be super cool.

I love the recycled box idea for these. It certainly is a great way to pull a room together with some fabulous coordinating fabrics. With the nesting idea, you could have a summer and winter set, or one for the holidays, okay, I see how these could be addictive! Thanks for sharing! Sara

Those are super cute! I can already see endless uses for them, and what a great way to recycle cereal boxes!

I just found your blog and am so in love with all of your quilts. I have been toying with the idea of doing y first one, but am still a little afraid. Seeing your step by step pieces has really boosted my confidence!

these were easy too! What are the sizes of the squares that you used for the stacked set if you don't mind me asking! I will be giving home made butterscotch and fudge toppings for Christmas in these, too cute!!

Holy cow. I was reading along thinking, hmmm... kind of an involved little project here. I wonder how long it would take to make one of these cute boxes. I figured it would take me (being an unskilled sewer) an entire afternoon. And then I get to the bottom and see the nesting boxes, and the long row of them that you've got on your table... I've said it before and I'm saying it again. You are no joke, woman!

for the nesting boxes I cut the squares 7", 6", 5" and 4". the cardboard is about .875" less than the cut size of the square. for example...if you cut your fabric 7" the cardboard would need to be cut about 6.125". let me know if you have more questions on this.

Wow! when you get going on a project it seems there is not much that can slow you down! I think I may have to do a few of these boxes... I used have a couple dozen way back in the early eighties to keep kid things in, like GIJoe's and hot wheels cars and Lego blocks, but now i can see a use for them with bottles of vitamins -- i must be getting old...

Hi! LOVE you containers and your checkbook covers! I was wondering if there was a way you could make your tutorials into PDF's or something so they would be easy to print them off to make all these wonderful projects? Can't wait to see waht is next!

Alright, you already have a bazillion comments, but I have to say how cute these turned out! I can't wait to try it for myself. I even have some of that exact same multicolor stripe. I think I got it at the remnant bin at Joann's.

I've been trying to figure out a way to add storage for my sewing, craft and kids items without spending a great deal of money. These containers are WONDERFUL. Thanks for sharing the ideas. I think this will be my next sewing venture!

Someone else made a comment about having this striped fabric from Joanns. When I went back and looked, I too have several yards of it, waiting to be turned into a chair cover. Now I have another fun idea for the scraps... just thought I'd share! :D

Fantastic. I just made one, will send a photo to you...i picked up some lovely fabric on sale at my local quilting shop. The local $2 shop sells a variation on these, but they are made presumably with sweatshop labour, horrible fabric, no love. My vinyl pocket unfortunately came undone - maybe the tension on my sewing machine isn't right. I'll muck around with that on teh next one. And just one dumb question, when you sew in the gap for turning and stuffing cardboard, are you machine or handsewing?

Okay, once again, these are TOO cute!!! I am going to make some as gifts this year and I think I will make a bunch for myself, to store fabric scraps in. Right now, my "scrap system" is that scraps get shoved into paper bags for later sorting, but I want something prettier and more functional.

I can hardly wait to make one (or ten) of these. I was wondering how big you have tried making them. I would like to make some for the wire cube shelf/organizer in my sewing room to hold fabric and notions. I think I would have to use heavier, probably corrugated cardboard to handle the weight of fabric. They would be about 12" square.

I am so excited that Randi (I have to say) led me to your blog. I am fairly inexperienced with my sewing maching, but your tutorials are so easy to understand. I feel so blessed that you have taken the time to share your gift...sending a hug and saying THANK YOU.

These cubes will be so handy, we are getting close to our adoption to Ethiopia (getting a 6 month old girl ;-) I have been pondering how I could organize the changing table area...this is so wonderful!

Hi Amanda Jean!I made one of these tonight and I love it, but I did notice something that was a bit confusing. It seems that your directions say to cut the cardboard 5 1/8" which is much bigger than the box will allow, especially after the seam allowance. Maybe you meant 4 1/2" or 4 1/4". I just improvised and made due. Thanks for the tutorial.

hey amandajean! thanks for this great tutorial. i've been meaning to make it for awhile. well, now i've made it the day before i need to give it to my mom. nothing like waiting until the last minute. just a quick question for you. when it was all finished, the lining is pretty baggy inside the box. is this the norm, or maybe i did something wrong? any thoughts?

Hi Amanda Jean, thanks for the comment on the paper for the fabric cards.

I am in the process of making a box and definitely need to use interfacing but besides that, how do you manage to get the salvages? I was taught that the salvages should be put together and then you cut that way. So, one would need the salvages right?

These are great! We lost our home to a fire in Jan. We will be building a new home this summer. These will be wonderful and inexspensive to make for my children's new bedrooms and my new craft studio. The best part is I can coordinate the fabrics to their rooms. Thank You so much for the great tutorial.

Hello!I really like your how to. I was wondering if I could translate it in French and add it to my list of how to as explained in my french post (http://www.petitcitron.com/index.php/form_howto.html)Of course, your website would be quoted and there would be a link!Thank you,Perrine

I didn't ever see your comment about how you put the binding at the top of the nesting boxes. Did you ever answer? And like the other comments you have received, I wanted to tell you what an awesome talented person you are. Not only do you have these wonderful tutorials, and totally mind-blowing finished products, your eye for color is phenomenal.

I just made one and it turned out great. Thanks for posting this tutorial! This was definitely as easy as promised. Note: I used a twill liner and woven cotten (thin) outer fabric, and I'd definitely interface next time. Pics on my blog: http://nicoleandtim.blogspot.com/2010/01/fabric-storage-cube.html

Oh my! This is extremely clever, and no wonder it is addictive. A friend recently gave me a big box of leftover fabric after a huge cleanout, and I'e been musing over what to do with them... I think I've just figure it out! I have to go stop my hubby from taking out the recycling so I can rescue some cardboard! Thank you for the clear tutorial and great inspiration. Yay!

This is a wonderful idea; and from looking over your instructions they seem really clear. I will definitely be trying this to use for a charity auction donation - thank you for the great idea! Cheryl in PA

Yes, I too just love those little storage boxes. I made one a week ago and it's so cute!Have mentioned it in a post on my weblog and of course made a link to this tutorial you have.Thank you for making such a clear-to-follow tutorial availabe, and for free too!Elsewww.sewhappy2quilt.blogspot.com